Top 10 Indian Athletes to watch out for this Summer Olympics

Saina Nehwal, the country's premier female player, whose exploits over the last decade at the international level have caused a massive resurgence of interest in the sport. Credit should also go to chief national coach and 2001 All-England champion Pullela Gopichand, whose untiring efforts at his Hyderabad academy have produced a bunch of players capable of challenging the best in the world.

Dutee Chand will be only the second Indian woman sprinter to participate in the Olympics — PT Usha competed in the 100 m and 200 at the 1980 Moscow Games. SPRINTER DUTEE Chand became the first Indian to qualify in the 100 m event of the Olympics after recording a time of 11.30 seconds in the heats at the XXVI International Meeting G Kosanov Memorial in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The Olympic qualification time for the 100 m was 11.32 seconds. She bettered the national record for the second time in a day when she clocked 11.24 seconds in the final later on Saturday to win the silver.

Deepika Kumari is an Indian athlete who competes in the event of Archery, is currently ranked World No. 5, and is a former world number one. She won a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth games in the women's individual recurve event. She also won a gold medal in the same competition in the women's team recurve event along with Dola Banerjee and Bombayala Devi.

Yogeshwar Dutt is an Indian wrestler from Haryana. He won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men's 60kg Freestyle wrestling.He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013. He won Gold Medal in 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. Recently, he has been clubbed into the ‘Icon’ category by Haryana Hammers one of the six teams playing under the first edition of Pro Wrestling League (PWL)He is currently supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation that identifies and supports Indian athletes

Jitu Rai is India's big medal hope in shooting, especially in the 50m pistol event where he is ranked second in the world. Ranked three in the 10m air pistol event, his medals at 2014 Asian Games and ISSF World Cups in 2014 and 2015 show that a double medal haul isn't beyond the twenty-nine year old.

Vikas won his first international medal by clinching the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Youth Boxing Championships in Tehran, Iran. He won in the 60KG Lightweight weight class. Vikas also won gold at the Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships in 2010, after defeating Lithuania’s Evaldas Petrauskas, the same opponent he defeated to win a bronze in the 2010 Youth Olympics.

Gowda is the only Indian male to win a track-and-field gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in the last 50 years and is arguably the most consistent Indian athlete in recent times. Gowda said his passion for throwing helps him stay motivated while training alone in the US under former Olympic champion John Godina.

Every time Dipa Karmakar goes airborne, she puts her most valuable asset at risk for the sake of individual glory and a nation's pride: her life.
Her life and death gamble tells us a story of a brave girl who would rather go for broke than lead a life of anonymity in spite of heavy odds, lack of money and facilities.Since most of us look at sports through a cricket-lens, let me explain Dipa's daring act with an analogy: Imagine her as a batsman facing Jeff Thomson – considered by many as the fastest bowler of all time – without any protective gear, standing half-way down the pitch. And the bowler is allowed to target her skull.

Seema, who is currently training under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme at the United States, achieved the feat at the Pat Young’s Throwers Classic at Hartnell College Throwers Complex, in Salinas, California. Besides the qualification, this is Seema’ best performance as well. The national record for Women’s discus throw is currently with ace discus thrower Krishna Poonia, who had thrown the discus to 64.76 m. She is currently also in the US, training to make the cut for Rio 2016.

Maharashtra's Babar, who has already qualified for the Olympics in both the 3000m steeplechase and marathon, clocked 9:27.09 to win the gold and set the national record in world leading time while Sudha, representing Uttar Pradesh, came up with a timing of 9:31.86 and bettered the Rio Games qualification standard of 9:45.00. The performance of Asian champion Babar, who finished eighth in 3000m steeplechase in the World Championships last year, was also remarkable as she recorded the world leading time though it is very early in the season.